Celiac Disease

Celiac disease is an autoimmune disorder caused by an inappropriate response of the immune system to gluten exposure. Gluten is a protein found in wheat, barley and rye.

While celiac disease often causes gastrointestinal symptoms like diarrhea, abdominal pain, bloating, constipation and gas, it also can cause symptoms that may seem entirely unrelated, such as irritability, depression and headaches. Some people have no symptoms at all.

When someone with celiac disease eats gluten, their small intestine becomes damaged. While blood tests can help diagnose the disease, it is confirmed with a biopsy of this damaged small intestine tissue. Treatment is a gluten-free diet. Left untreated, celiac disease can cause serious health consequences.

How would someone know they have celiac disease?

Blood tests can help diagnose the disease, and it can be confirmed with a biopsy of small intestine tissue.

How can I get tested?

You can order your own blood tests right now, without consulting a health care provider. We offer two blood tests to help identify celiac disease. Celiac Disease Test checks for antibodies to gluten; and Celiac Disease Profile is a more comprehensive test to check for antibodies to gluten and progressively reflexes to other advanced tests if necessary. Both of these tests are listed below. For accurate diagnostic test results, you must currently have gluten in your diet.

To find out if you have celiac disease, simply choose the test you want, pay for it and our board-certified physician will authorize you to have the test performed. After you order the test, you will receive a laboratory requisition in your email that you can bring with you to more than 50 convenient Health Network Laboratory locations where we will draw your blood for testing.

When your results are ready, we will let you know. Your test results are secure, confidential and available to only you. You can choose if you want to share your results with anyone else, including your doctor. Please note, we do not accept insurance at this time.